This is a CU Colorado Springs student blog for urban economics the economics of social issues.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Was it right to legalize Marijuana?

With the new law of legalizing marijuana being passed, many
individuals are still uneasy as to whether it should have been legalized or
not. According to CNBC, marijuana should not have been legalized. This is
because they believe that if marijuana were to be legalized, consumption of it
would likely increase. Along with that would likely come health and community
costs: increase in accidents due to motor impairment, increase in associated
illnesses such as cancer, as is the case with cigarette smoking. Marijuana is
not harmless, it is addictive, and it does affect the brain. Since legalization
of marijuana for medical or general use would increase marijuana use rather
than reduce it and it would lead to increased rates of addiction to marijuana
among youth and adults. The biggest argument in the article is how the
legalization of Marijuana adds taxes. According to the article, "if
marijuana was legalized, the only way to eliminate its illegal trade would be
to sell marijuana untaxed and unregulated to any willing buyer." because
no buyer would be willing to buy taxed Marijuana.

I however disagree. I believe that legalizing marijuana was
the right decision. I believe that this is because from an economic standpoint,
there would be numerous benefits to legalizing Marijuana.A new industry could emerge that would allow
people to buy and sell marijuana without being sent to jail.The illegal pot dealer that is currently
making their money in the black market could possibly start a profitable
business. They would already have a good amount of clients, which is a key to
succeed in any business. Since Marijuana is no longer illegal, customers could
receive their order from the mail legally since there is no need for drug
trafficking anymore. This would create many jobs across the country, which will
help the big problem of unemployment as well. Also, prisons are able to save a
lot of money from not having to put Marijuana users in jail anymore. Moreover,
if a marijuana distribution grew large enough, it could be registered and
traded on an exchange which would mean that Marijuana could be taxed so that
the government could benefit. Voluntary trade (cooperation) means that both
gain. The person who is the buyer is giving up some money in return for the
good or service, the seller is giving up to get the money. The exchange allows
both parties to benefit from it, which means that they have both gained which
suits this rule of human action and why legalizing Marijuana is the best choice
because if it was not legalized, these benefits could not exist.

1 comment:

1. Do proponents of marijuana prohibition give reasons that sound like a negative externality?

2. I'm not sure why you suggest a new industry would emerge. I'm thinking there is already a marijuana industry since using the force to try to prohibit the good has only led to the emergence of a "black market." The characteristics of a legal industry would be somewhat different compared with the illegal industry.